Baseball By The Numbers At The All-Star Break

In his first 274 major league games, Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has hit 81 home runs.SportPics

Baseball is a game of numbers, stats, and side notes that help keep fans, players, and club executives informed on meaningful information and details as well as material that is absolutely useless.

But that is the beauty of the game, finding obscure tidbits about players or teams and helping spread some fun and intriguing facts to those seeking offbeat news.

The first half of the 2018 season had its share of data that will keep fans wondering what the meaning behind all these figures and how does it calculate into the most important aspect of MLB games, which is winning.

So here are some details of the game by the numbers (1 through 100) for the 2018 MLB game through the All-Star break.

1 Manager was relieved of his duties before the All-Star break as the Cardinals fired Mike Matheny on July 14 after his club suffered its third consecutive loss and fell 7.5 games behind the Cubs in the N.L. Central. Despite a 47-46 record and a career winning percentage of .555, sloppy play and inconsistency from a team with high expectations were some underlying factors in Matheny’s removal.

2 Pitchers credited with a no-hit game. Sean Manaea of the A’s and James Paxton of the Mariners put their names in the record books with nine-inning complete-game no-hitters. Manaea’s came on April 21 against the Red Sox and Paxton shutdown the Blue Jays on May 8. Note: The Dodgers tossed a combined no-hitter on May 4 when Walker Buehler, Tony Cingrani, Yimi Garcia, and Adam Liberatore joined forces to hold the Padres without a hit for nine frames.

3 Grand slams hit by Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts. He had one career bases loaded homer amid his first 52 career homers, but among his last 14 long balls, three have been slams—including a walk-off blast on July 14.

4 Walk-off grand slams hit during first half of season. Jason Heyward of the Cubs hit one on June 6, Jose Bautista clubbed one for the Mets on July 6, Xander Bogaerts connected for a bases-loaded game-winning homer on July 14 and Twins second baseman Brian Dozier accomplished the feat on July 15.

5 Multi-homer games by Manny Machado. Among his 23 homers, the slugging shortstop had two-homer games for Baltimore on April 6 (vs. Yankees), April 19 (vs. Tigers), April 22 (vs. Indians), May 11 (vs. Rays), and July 10 (vs. Yankees).

6 Players who totaled seven or more RBI in a game. Mark Reynolds of the Nationals drove home 10 on July 7, teammate Trea Turner collected eight RBI on July 5, Didi Gregorius of the Yankees had eight on April 3, and Francisco Lindor of the Indians, Nelson Cruz of the Mariners, and Willson Contreras of the Cubs each had 7-RBI games.

8 Consecutive games with an RBI in 2018 by a single player—Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs (June 2 – June 11) and Justin Upton of the Angels (May 8 – May 15).

9 Straight series won by the Diamondbacks to open the 2018 season, a feat that was last accomplished in the N.L. by the 1907 Cubs.

10 Max Scherzer of the Nationals leads all major league starters with 10 games with 10 or more strikeouts. His first half total of 182 whiffs is also tops in MLB.

11 Total wins the Royals had in their home ballpark in the first half—the lowest in baseball.

12 Losses for pitchers Tanner Roark (3-12) of the Nationals and Alex Cobb (2-12) of the Orioles—the most in the majors.

13 Starts made by Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw in the club’s first 96 games. His record is 3-4 with a 2.74 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 75.2 innings.

14 Among the 187 shutouts by all 30 MLB teams in the first half, only 14 were of the complete-game version. The other 173 were combined shutouts.

15 Players have already struck out 100 or more times, headed by Joey Gallo of the Rangers (132), Aaron Judge of the Yankees (132), Yoan Moncada of the White Sox (130) and Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees (130).

16 Years since the Seattle Mariners last participated in the postseason when they lost to the Yankees in the ALCS. As of July 15, the M’s are five games out of first-place and four games in front in the wild card standings.

17 Teams with a winning percentage above .500—eight in the American League and nine in the National League.

18 Double plays hit into by Blue Jays infielder Yangervis Solarte, a total that leads the majors. Albert Pujols of the Angels led the majors in 2017 with 26. The all-time single-season mark is 36 by Jim Rice of the Red Sox in 1984.

19-Game hitting streak by Cleveland’s Michael Brantley, from May 9 through May 30, is the longest of the season.

20 There have been 34 pitchers who have had a 20-win season for the Yankees with the last coming in 2010 when CC Sabathia won 21. With a 14-2 mark at the break, Luis Severino is in line to become the 35th20-game winner in franchise history.

21 Adrian Beltre’s rank among MLB players with the most career hits with 3,114.

22 Different players recorded games with five or more hits, including George Springer of the Astros and Andrew McCutchen of the Giants, who had 6-hit games.

23 Indians manager Terry Francona is 23rdon the all-time victory list among MLB managers with 1,534 wins. Among the 22 ahead of him, 15 are in the Hall of Fame and Bruce Bochy and Mike Scioscia are still active.

24 Active pitchers with 100 or more career wins—led by Bartolo Colon (245), CC Sabathia (244) and Justin Verlander (197).

25 Francisco Lindor (30 doubles/25 HR) and Jose Ramirez (26 doubles/29 HR) of the Indians are the 16thand 17thplayers respectively in MLB history to record 25 or more doubles and home runs before the All-Star break.

26 Holds by Diamondbacks reliever Archie Bradley, which leads the majors. He had 25 all of last season.

27 Wins by Kansas City are the fewest in the major leagues. After 95 games, the Royals are on pace for 46 wins which would be the third lowest win total by a team in a 162-game schedule. Only the 1962 Mets (40 wins) and 2003 Tigers (43 wins) had fewer.

28 The Cincinnati Reds are in their 28thseason without winning the N.L. pennant. The longest stretch in franchise history since the World Series began in 1903.

29 Different pitchers used by the Angels in a regular season game this year—the most in MLB.

30 MLB players hold a slugging percentage of .500 or higher going into the break. Mookie Betts is tops in the majors with a .691 mark.

31 Walks drawn by Khris Davis of Oakland and Trevor Story of Colorado, but both sluggers have struck out 100 times. Davis has 100 whiffs through July 15, and Story has 102.

32 Uniform number retired by the Toronto Blue Jays on March 29 in remembrance of former Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Roy Halladay, who passed away in a plane crash on Nov. 7, 2017.

33 Among the 71 pitchers with 100 innings pitched, 33 of them have ERAs of 4.00 or higher.

34 Consecutive hitless at-bats by outfielder Jon Jay, from June 24 though July 3, marks the longest slump by a position player in 2018.

35 Doubles in 90 games by Minnesota’s Eduardo Escobar is the most in baseball. In 2016-17 combined, he hit 30 doubles in 234 games.

36 Saves by MLB leader Edwin Diaz of the Mariners. His total is two off the MLB record of 38 before the All-Star break which was established by Francisco Rodriguez of the Angels in 2008 when he set the single-season mark for saves with 62.

37 Team errors in the first half by the D-backs and Rockies were the fewest in the majors. Both clubs enter the second half of the year with a .990 fielding percentage. The D-backs have 37 errors in 3,674 total chances and the Rockies in 3,567 total chances.

38 Games above .500 are the Red Sox with a 68-30 won-lost record. They are on pace to be 50 games over .500 by season’s end, a feat they have accomplished three times in franchise history—1912 (105-47), 1915 (101-50), and 1946 (104-50).

39 Seattle leads the wild card race by two games in the American League at the break, despite second baseman Robinson Cano playing in only 39 games due to his suspension for testing positive for a banned substance.

40 Combined shutouts by Clayton Kershaw (15), Bartolo Colon (13), and CC Sabathia (12). That’s how many Sandy Koufax had during his 12-year big league career and 70 fewer than Walter Johnson had as the all-time record holder.

41 Games under the .500 mark were the Kansas City Royals (27-68) and Baltimore Orioles (28-69) at the break.

42 Career starts by Red Sox left-hander Chris Sale in which he has struck out 10 or more batters while issuing one or fewer walks.

43 Ks by Japanese sensation. In his first 45 games in the majors as a hitter, Shohei Ohtani has struck out 43 times in 156 plate appearances. He has also batted .283 with 10 doubles and seven home runs.

44 Hits in the month of May for Switch-hitting shortstop Francisco Lindor. During the month, he hit .373 (44-for-118).

45 Errors committed in the first half of the season by the White Sox infield. Yoan Moncada (15 at 2B), Tim Anderson (13 at SS), Carlos Sanchez (10 at 3B), and Jose Abreu (7 at 1B).

46 RBI and counting for rebounding Stephen Piscotty. After struggling in 2017 with a .235 BA and only 39 RBI for the Cardinals, Piscotty has had a productive first half in 2018 with 46 RBI in his first 88 games with Oakland.

47 Walks issued by Clayton Kershaw since the start of 2017 while working 250.2 innings and striking out 280 batters.

48 Balks committed by National League pitchers this season with the Dodgers and Texas Rangers topping the majors with seven. A.L. pitchers have been called for 38 balks.

49 Pitches that exceeded 102.5 MPH. Among those 49 bullets tossed, 28 were by Jordan Hicks of the Cardinals and the other 21 by Aroldis Chapman of the Yankees. The highest velocity for a pitch this year was 105.1 by Hicks according to Statcast. Chapman’s high mark was 104.4.

50 Home runs hit for a distance of 450 or more feet in MLB through July 15. The longest distance is 489 feet by San Diego’s Franchy Cordero.

51 Games in a row. Shin-Soo Choo of the Rangers has reached base via hit, walk or hit by pitch in 51 consecutive games. His streak started on May 13 and will continue when games resume after the All-Star break. Choo is one of 37 players since 1908 to reach base in 50 or more consecutive games in one season.

52 On the all-time strikeout list is Max Scherzer with 2,331 career whiffs. He is quickly approaching Hall of Famers Robin Roberts (2,357), Sandy Koufax (2,396), and Dennis Eckersley (2,401).

53 And counting. In the first 117 years of franchise history (1901-2017) the Yankees have appeared in postseason play 53 times. In 2018, they are expected to participate in the playoffs a record 54thtime.

54 Combined home runs in the first half by Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez (29) and Francisco Lindor (25), the highest total produced by any power duo in the majors. The Indians tandem is ahead of the 52 generated by Boston’s J.D. Martinez (29) and Mookie Betts’ (23) and the 48 manufactured by the Bronx sluggers of Aaron Judge (25) and Giancarlo Stanton (23).

55 With a 12-2 won-lost record before the All-Star game, Jon Lester now has 55 wins in 115 starts as a member of the Chicago Cubs. It took him 116 starts to gain his first 55 victories with the Red Sox.

56 Consecutive starting assignments by Yu Darvish without tossing a complete-game. In his last 56 starts, the right-hander has averaged six innings per outing.

57 Extra-base hits by Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez. His total long balls—26 doubles, 2 triples, 29 homers—is tops in the majors.

59 Double plays turned by Yankees is lowest in majors. The slugging Yankees have turned the fewest double plays, turning only 59 in their first 95 games.

60 Wild pitches by the Pirates are the most in the majors.

61 Crucial runs batted in by Cubs first sacker. Anthony Rizzo has battled minor back issues and slumps in the first half that has his batting average at .246 and on-base percentage at .341, but he has still produced 61 RBI to keep him on pace for his fourth consecutive 100-RBI season.

62 Appearances away from immortality. Cole Hamels has recorded at least one strikeout in 320 consecutive pitching appearances. He is 62 appearances away from tying Nolan Ryan’s record of 382.

63 MLB players have slugged 15 or more home runs.

64 RBI in his first 96 games in 2018 have Alex Bregman of the Astros on pace for a 109-RBI campaign. In his first full major league season in 2017, he drove in 71 runs in 155 games.

65 Combined walk-off wins for National League teams before the break, led by the Giants with eight. A.L. teams produced 57 walk-off victories led by the Yankees, Blue Jays, Astros, and Mariners with 6.

66 Games lost to injury. After slugging a career high 30 homers for the Padres in 2017, Wil Myers has missed 66 of San Diego’s first 99 games this year.

67 Of Joey Gallo’s 176 career hits are singles. The powerful slugger also has 34 doubles, 5 triples, and 70 home runs.

68 Wins by the Boston Red Sox—most in the majors.

69 Games without a shutout to open the season. The Toronto Blue Jays allowed at least one run in each of the first 69 games played in 2018 and did not record the club’s first shutout until June 16 when they blanked the Nationals, 6-0.

70 Is the uniform number worn by Cubs manager Joe Maddon, the highest number for a big-league manager.

72 RBI by Cubs second baseman Javier Baez in his first 91 games of the season. Last year he drove in a career high 75 runs in 145 games.

73 Homers in the late innings. Miguel Cabrera, who is third among active players with 465 homers, has combined to club 73 of those homers in the 8th (40) and 9th (33) innings.

74 Home runs hit by J.D. Martinez over his last 211 games and 886 at-bats.

75 Games of grabbing some bench. Giancarlo Stanton has struck out at least once in 75 of his first 94 games with the Yankees.

76 Doubles away is Albert Pujols from 700 for his career. He is also 70 HR away from 700, giving him an outside shot at becoming the first player in MLB history to record 700 lifetime doubles and home runs.

77 Miscues spell trouble in St. Louis. In their first 94 games, the Cardinals lead the majors with 77 errors—a total that isn’t the Cardinal Way and certainly contributed to Mike Matheny’s dismissal.

78 MLB at-bats it took for Juan Soto of the Nationals to blast six home runs. The fewest ABs for a teenager to reach that HR total. Tony Conigliaro needed 97, Ken Griffey Jr. hit his sixth in AB No. 130. Bryce Harper needed 137 and Mickey Mantle clubbed his sixth career home run in his 212that-bat.

80 Total RBI for MLB leader J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox. He didn’t drive in his 80thrun in 2017 until Sept. 8.

81 Home runs hit by Aaron Judge in his first 274 major league games. After his first 274 big league contests, Hank Aaron had 40 home runs.

82 Long balls allowed is lowest in MLB. Despite some struggles during the first half of the season, the Cardinals pitching staff has yielded the fewest home runs in the majors (82).

83 On May 26, Mike Trout became the 83rdplayer, since 1908, to record one home run and three doubles in one game. Only three players accomplished the rare feat twice—Miguel Tejada, Hal McRae and Aaron Rowand, who did it three days apart on July 14 and 17 in 2007 with the Phillies.

84 On the all-time list is Miguel Cabrera among career walk leaders with 1,087. He is tied with Bobby Grich and one walk away from tying Graig Nettles.

85 Runs scored by Francisco Lindor of the Indians is tied for the fourth most before the Midsummer Classic. Only Frank Thomas (93 in 1994), Lou Gehrig (92 in 1936) and Todd Helton (87 in 2003) tallied more runs before the break than the Tribe’s All-Star shortstop.

86 Strikeouts in first 56.2 innings as an Astro. Gerit Cole fanned 86 batters in his first eight games (56.2 innings) with Houston.

87 Hits at halfway mark spells comeback season. After totaling only 54 hits in an injury interrupted 2017 season, Rays catcher Wilson Ramos has 87 hits in his first 78 games this year, including 14 doubles and 14 home runs.

88 Two-baggers shy of joining elite group of switch hitters. Victor Martinez has 412 career doubles and is 88 away from becoming the seventh switch batter to reach the 500 plateau. If he reaches the mark, he would join Pete Rose, Carlos Beltran, Eddie Murray, Chipper Jones, Jimmy Rollins and Roberto Alomar.

89 Starts of pure consistency. In 126 career starts Jacob deGrom has fanned at least six batters in 89 of those starts, including 10 or more in 25 of them.

90 Appears long, yet not so far. At age 37, outfielder Rajai Davis is 90 steals away from 500 for his career, but his days of reaching the plateau are dwindling.

91 Slams by pitchers. On June 30, Michael Lorenzen of the Reds became the 91stmajor league pitcher, since 1900, to hit a grand slam and only the fifth to accomplish the feat in a pinch-hitting role.

92 RBI Mike Trout’s has average per season in his first six full big-league campaigns. With 50 at the break this year, he is on pace for 84.

93 Hits before the All-Star break. The Brewers traded for outfielder Christian Yelich for his production and consistency. Through July 15 of this season, he totaled 93 hits after his first 82 games with Milwaukee. In 2017, he collected his 93rdhit on July 15 after 89 games with Miami. In 2016, the sure-handed outfielder amassed his 93rdhit on July 8 after 86 games with the Marlins.

94 Is the record for most MLB grand slams hit before the All-Star break which was set in 2000. This season, major league clubs fell eight slams short of equaling the record.

95 Is a big strikeout to walk differential. At the break, Giancarlo Stanton has already struck out 95 more times than he has walked—130 Ks and 35 BB. Yoan Moncada of the White Sox wasn’t far behind with a reading of 130 strikeouts and 36 walks.

96 Should get them an invitation to the postseason. The Cubs and Mariners are both on pace for 96 victories.

97 Wins away should lock his Hall of Fame candidacy. Bruce Bochy, who is in his 24thyear as a major league manager, needs 97 more wins for 2,000 career victories. That would make him the 11thmanager to reach the milestone. He has 951 wins as Padres skipper and 952 with the Giants.

98 Different players with a game of four or more strikeouts. A four-strikeout game by a batter has occurred 129 times this season by 98 different players. Matt Davidson of the White Sox has the most with five.

99 Or whatever it takes to get the job done. Mariners left-hander James Paxton is the 15thpitcher, since 1908, to toss a nine-inning no-hitter while throwing fewer than 100 pitches. On May 8, he threw a no-hitter against the Blue Jays and threw 99 pitches. He fanned seven batters and walked three in the process.

100 Career games with three or more hits. On July 12, Albert Pujols went 3-for-4 against the Mariners for his 100thcareer game with at least three hits.

So, there you have it. Numbers and information about the 2018 season that will keep your head spinning until games resume after the Midsummer Classic.

Bob Kuenster is a contributing columnist for Forbes.com. He can be found on Twitter at @bobkuenster